Apple Music is expanding its presence in the live entertainment sector with the opening of a 600-capacity live venue at Battersea Power Station in London. The new space, Apple Music Hall, marks the company’s first publicly accessible permanent music venue and reflects the growing involvement of streaming platforms in the live music ecosystem.
Apple Music said the venue aims to “close the gap between intimacy and production value and allow for an unprecedented level of creative control”.
Located within the Battersea Power Station development, the venue has its own exterior access and includes a terrace overlooking the River Thames. The terrace will be used for audience ingress as well as smaller private events.
Designed to offer flexibility for artists, the venue features a 38-foot-wide stage that can be configured for traditional front-facing performances or more immersive, in-the-round formats.
The company said, “Every seat feels close to the performer, yet the infrastructure offers what an artist requires for an arena tour, with a 38-foot-wide stage that can be reconfigured for traditional front-facing sets or more in-the-round experiences.”
The venue also features a 48-speaker spatial sound system positioned around the audience.
It further added, “The venue is equipped with a 48-speaker spatial sound system positioned all around the audience. When an artist performs in spatial, it will enable fans to hear that performance in an immersive environment.”
Apple Music Hall can be configured for both seated and standing shows. A large rear window can also be opened or closed, allowing performances to use natural daylight or a stage-lit setting. The space has been designed to support experimental performance formats, including the possibility of artists performing from balconies or from the raised rear section of the auditorium.
A New Production and Broadcast Facility
Beyond hosting live performances, Apple Music Hall is also set to serve as a production facility. Apple Music is moving its London-based radio operations, along with some podcast and video content, to the venue’s Radio Wing, which sits next to the auditorium.
The facility includes two dedicated recording and mix studios and a broadcast control room. It has also been designed to support concert video capture using an up to 16-camera setup.
Multiple control rooms will allow live broadcasts from both the studios and the main venue stage, as well as DJ set capture and record mixing. The facility will also support spatial audio mixing.
Livestreaming is a key part of the venue’s strategy, allowing performances at the London venue to reach audiences globally.
The company said, “An artist can perform an intimate live show for fans at Apple Music Hall and walk out with a finished Spatial Audio recording, a broadcast-ready mix, and multicamera video, all from a single show. Performances out of Apple Music Hall will also be livestreamed globally so fans outside of London can tune in to enjoy these one-time-only shows from their favourite artists.”
Streaming Platforms Move Further into Live
The launch comes as streaming companies increasingly explore opportunities in the live entertainment sector. Apple Music has recently expanded its live streaming activity through initiatives such as Club Live, which launched in May with streams from EDC Las Vegas.
Spotify has also introduced its Reserved Feature, allowing artists to hold tickets for top fans based on their streaming activity.
With Apple Music Hall, Apple is combining live performances, recording, spatial audio, video production and global streaming within a single venue, creating a space designed to support artists beyond the traditional concert format.
Reacting to the announcement, Lisa Nandy, UK culture secretary said, “This is a huge vote of confidence in the UK as a global creative powerhouse. When a company of Apple’s scale backs British music and talent, it’s a signal of just how strong our creative sectors really are.”
